The people and places I mentioned from the past; the people making news today — they are all part of us — all of us.

We’ve all witnessed in the last few months — since 2004 really — that the election of a black man as President of the United States is not the end of America’s racial problems. We are not living in a post-racial society — that “promised land” — Dr. King talked about in his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.

There is still work to be done: Sermons to hear, meetings to attend, petitions to sign, votes to be cast … and marches to march.

If you watched the movie Selma, one of the high points was the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge where marchers met the billy clubs of the police. Today, we still have bridges to cross to get to the other side. We still have hurdles to climb; we still have barriers that need to be torn down.

Some of those barriers are physical barriers like the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Some of those barriers are legal barriers, like the voter ID required in some states. Did you know you need a photo ID in order to vote in Texas? 34 states have implemented voter ID laws. For what?

It is important to protect the integrity of our elections. But we must be careful not to undermine free and fair access to the ballot in the name of preventing voter fraud.

The Brennan Center for Justice of the New York University’s School of Law has been looking into this myth of voter fraud. Their studies reveal that voter fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is nearly non-existent, and much of the problems associated with alleged fraud in elections relates to unintentional mistakes by voters or election administrators.

Their report, “The Truth About Voter Fraud,” reveals most allegations of fraud turn out to be baseless — and that of the few allegations remaining, most reveal election irregularities and other forms of election misconduct.

Voter fraud is not acceptable in our elections, but we must find a balance and not impose solutions that make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to participate in our democracy.

Some of those laws have been overturned. The legality of the remaining laws are being challenged and will be decided in the Supreme Court this year.

Some are barriers that we make for ourselves. Sometimes we think we’re not smart enough, not strong enough, not rich enough, not powerful enough … to make a difference.

In the beginning, Dr. King was not strong, rich or powerful. But he was smart. From a simple country preacher who was a pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, he became one of the most influential Americans in our country’s history. He led a movement that was powerful enough to change America forever.

He became powerful not by raising a fist or throwing a rock. He chose nonviolence. He was a man of peace. Nonviolence was his weapon; a weapon was so powerful that all the police dogs, police batons, fire hoses and Jim Crow laws could not change his path toward justice and equality.

He became powerful by lifting his mind … and lifting our spirits, raising our expectations and determination, and … lifting us out of the pit of despair … freeing us from the chains of ignorance and the chains of old ways of negativity that prevented us from aspiring to do great things.

Today we are being tested again. We find ourselves fighting the old battles again. Instead of a bridge, instead of a Freedom bus, instead of a lunchroom counter, we are fighting in the courts and the halls of city halls and state legislatures and in the avenues and halls of the Congress.

We need to find a common ground that allows us to be our own individual selves, to worship in our mosques, temples or churches, to believe in Allah, Buddha or Yahweh … and at the same time, work toward the common good, work toward perfecting our democracy, toward America as it ought to be.

King’s words allow us to dream… dream of a better world … a dream rooted in the American Dream … a dream we all can share. As Martin Luther King said, a dream where

“All of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

Glover represents District V on the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors.

The agency’s hiring surge is only for half of the funds generated under SB 1; the other half is going to cities and counties for transportation improvements projects, which are also expected to generate new jobs.